nefit to her."

"And if I follow neither of these alternatives," said Mr. Anstruther
harshly, "if I let her go on as she is doing now, what then?"

"Then I think you will run a great risk of having a morbid, melancholy
young lady on your hands--a delicate one too--for she is in danger of
becoming anemic, unless her health improves."

Dr. Knowles spoke so emphatically that, averse though he was to the idea
of letting his granddaughter go away, Mr. Anstruther dared not disregard
his warning. Nothing, he told himself obstinately, would have induced him
to accept the alternative proposal and fill his house with young people
for her sake. That would have been denying the very principles on which
she had been brought up. But the change was another matter altogether.
The next point to be considered was where he should send her; the doctor
had specified the Sussex downs, and that brought to Mr. Anstruther's mind
the fact that he had a friend who lived in a village high up on those
same downs. Many years ago he had visited her in the breezy place in
which she had chosen to make her home, and if his memory served him
rightly, and he had no doubt on that point, Windy Gap, as the village was
called, would be bracing enough to please the doctor, and quiet enough to
satisfy him. To the best of his belief there was scarcely another house
within three or four miles, and even if she had possessed near neighbours
Mrs. Murray would not have been likely to hold much intercourse with
them, for she was very deaf, and, as when he had known her, at least, she
had objected strongly to using an ear-trumpet, and few people had
sufficient lung power to make her hear without it, she had been quite
content not to hear them at all. Mr. Anstruther smiled rather grimly as
he reflected that Margaret's stay at Windy Gap was not likely to make her
own home seem dull by contrast when she returned to it.

Although he had held no correspondence with Mrs. Murray for many years,
they had in the days of their youth been such very good friends that Mr.
Anstruther had no scruples at all in writing to ask her if she would be
willing to consent to receive his granddaughter on a long visit. An
answer came by return of post to say that Mrs. Murray would be delighted
to have her, but that as she was totally unused to young people and
would be at a loss to know how to entertain a young girl, George must
give her some idea of what amusements she would need.

"My dea